Sometimes it’s time to diversify. Chris Hehmeyer formed a new firm called Hehmeyer Trading & Investments LLC that will expand into the managed futures and introducing broker space. The renamed company comes from his prior firm, HTG Capital Partners, which acquired Kottke & Associates in late 2016. The new name helps simplify things for Hehmeyer, who has integrated HTG’s proprietary trading operation along with Kottke’s commodity trading advisor and introducing broker business. Hehmeyer, who serves as CEO of the the new entity, sees plenty of opportunity in the CTA business. He said there is an appetite for non-correlated investments and…

In the trading space, much like the rest of the world, some of the best ideas and strategies come from emerging managers, or the “new kids on the block.” The trick is finding the right right win-win partnership to help get them on their way. Today, it is the large managed funds that control most of the assets. A recent study from hedge fund research firm Preqin shows that big funds – those with over a billion under management, manage more than 90 percent of the assets. And last year, the hedge fund space had $3.2 trillion assets under management,…

From Ernest Jaffarian: I find it necessary to speak to a number of mischaracterizations regarding the service of Doug Bry and myself on the NFA Board. It was Doug Bry who originally suggested to me in 2011 that I pursue election to the NFA Board. He did so out of a deep concern for the needs of CTAs and their clients in the wake of MF Global. When the nominating committee chose to nominate the incumbent to a non-contested position on the ballot, he encouraged me to petition to be added to the ballot. It was then that I encouraged…

**Editor’s Note: As news content and technology continue to change, so do we at John Lothian News. Please take a look at our interview with Dan Roth of the NFA, and click on the embedded video sidebar, at the 1:09 or 3:40 minute, marks to see more of our interview. After the twin scandals of MF Global and Peregrine Financial rocked the futures industry in 2011 and 2012, the National Futures Association, underwent a review, not only of its internal procedures, but also of its rules. In Part One of this two-part John Lothian News exclusive, NFA CEO Dan Roth…

Coquest is making a bigger push into the managed futures space. The firm, which announced the addition of Max Eagye as managing director last week to further expand its managed futures business, sees an opportunity to grow within the space with individual investors, complementing its client base of high net-worth individuals and institutions. John Vassallo, who co-founded Coquest with Dennis Weinman 25 years ago, said the potential for the space is still strong. The firm bought a 50 percent stake in a managed futures broker called Mega Capital six years ago and purchased the rest of the company last year….

This year’s elections for the board of directors of the National Futures Association is underway. John Lothian News spoke with several of the candidates, including commodity trading advisor and Commodity Customer Coalition co-founder John Roe, first elected to the board two years ago pledging reform. “When I ran for the board of directors two years ago,” says Roe, “we set out to accomplish a few things with regard to customer protections and increasing regulatory efficiency. Two years just simply is not enough time to get all of that done, and I feel we have a lot more to accomplish.” Roe is commodity…

The question for many in the managed futures industry at the CTA Expo in Chicago last month was where the next opportunity will come from. Several years now into the next big thing – managed futures mutual funds or 40 Act Funds – there is great hope and great potential for the product, depending on who you speak with. It could be the product that zaps the managed futures industry out of its doldrums and finally brings this sector into the mainstream investing circle in a big way. Others see wrinkles in the product that need to be ironed out….

Observations/Commentary Which Direxion for 40 Act Funds Jim Kharouf, John Lothian News The question for many in the managed futures industry at the CTA Expo in Chicago last month was where the next opportunity will come from. Several years now into the next big thing – managed futures mutual funds or 40 Act Funds – there is great hope and great potential for the product, depending on who you speak with. It could be the product that zaps the managed futures industry out of its doldrums and finally brings this sector into the mainstream investing circle in a big way….

One way to start a CTA business is by writing a newsletter and giving away your trading ideas and signals. Once you build a large enough audience, you start to charge a monthly fee for your service. Once you get enough people willing to pay for your service, you announce you will no longer be offering it as a newsletter, but will be offering it as a money management product. This is what I intend to do. Read Part 1 here. Read Part 2 here. I have the company set up, John J. Lothian Managed Futures, LLC (“JJLMF”). It is…